Pataki Enters Debate Over National Debt

Efforts Aims to Sway Presidential Race
by: DEVLIN BARRETT 

Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who has yet to rule out a 2012 presidential bid, is launching an advocacy group to pressure White House candidates to tackle the national debt.

Mr. Pataki's new group, No American Debt, aims to influence the presidential race in contested states like Michigan, Florida and Nevada, as well as early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr. Pataki said he has more than $1 million dollars in financial support for the group, and hopes to raise more than $10 million over the course of the campaign.

"I think the public is aware of the magnitude of the crisis and we're not going to let them forget about the magnitude of the crisis,'' said Mr. Pataki. "President Obama really has provided failed leadership when it comes to the fiscal policies of this country. We want to hold him, first of all, accountable.''

In recent months, when asked if he planned to run for president, Mr. Pataki has said he is considering it, based partly on what other potential candidates said and did. As he takes up the cause of debt reduction, Mr. Pataki didn't rule out becoming a presidential candidate down the road—although it's still unclear whether his new role as an issue advocate would help or hinder any budding presidential campaign.

Mr. Pataki himself has not been immune to criticism of his budget practices. During his three terms as governor, from 1995 to 2007, state debt increased to about $51 billion from about $28 billion, according to the state comptroller reports. Aides to Mr. Pataki say he kept state debt in line with the rate of inflation.

Mr. Pataki said he isn't running for president, "but I've been around politics long enough to know you never say never."

Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a months-long debate over how and where to cut government spending, a disagreement which nearly resulted in a partial shutdown of the government earlier this month.

The moderate Republican governor said No American Debt wouldn't focus solely on criticizing the Democratic president, but would put pressure on his fellow Republicans as well.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse responded to Mr. Pataki's comments with an acerbic email: "Who is George Pataki?'' Mr. Woodhouse said he expects "a lot of people will be asking that question and that this endeavor will be as successful as his previous political efforts in recent years—which no one has ever heard of.''

Seizing on issue advocacy in the heat of a political campaign isn't new to Mr. Pataki. During the 2010 congressional elections, he led a group called Revere America which raised millions of dollars and aired ads against Democratic lawmakers who had voted for Mr. Obama's signature health care legislation.

While Revere America was not the largest of such groups, it was part of a flurry of similar activity that helped Republicans win a majority control of the House, in part through gains in Mr. Pataki's home state.

"He wants to keep his name out there,'' said Doug Muzzio, a professor of politics at Baruch College. "And depending on how much money he raises and how he disperses it, it could be a mechanism to collect political chits, as well.''

No American Debt has already hired two political consultant shops, Mercury Public Affairs and DCI Group, for the effort. Mercury's Kieran Mahoney, a longtime adviser to Mr. Pataki, said the group's goal "is to pressure both sides so that not acting becomes more politically risky."

The group will urge candidates to consider every part of the government finances, and the governor said in his mind that includes at least discussing the possibility of some tax increases, though he emphasized he wouldn't want to see any tax increases in a final agreement.

Asked why he decided to focus his energy on this particular issue, the former governor said the national debt "is just a looming disaster for America, for my kids, for the next generation of Americans.''

-Via: Wallstreet Journal